Kenny S&P Information Services and World Data Delivery Systems yesterday announced creation of the Blue List Fax Service.
The service will enable medium-sized brokers and individual investors to use telecopiers for quick access to The Blue List of municipal bond offerings, said Mark D. Harrop, director of publicity for McGraw-Hill Inc., Kenny's parent company.
The 57-year-old Blue List has been available to print subscribers on a weekly and daily basis since 1935 and to computer users since 1978. It charts over 9,000 daily municipal and corporate bond offerings by nearly 900 dealers.
"The new system will aid both one-time and recurrent customers," Mr. Harrop said. "There are special programs available that would allow customers to receive The Blue List every day and also a way for the occasional customer to access the information."
Mr. Harrop said a 900 number has been created for investors who do not need to receive The Blue List every day.
"We are especially interested in targeting the people in outlying areas that have difficulty with next-day delivery," said Marjorie Rampino, a vice president in Kenny S&P's Blue List division. We have been working on developing the program since the beginning of this year."
According to Mr. Harrop, the one-time user "could call the number. specify which issue he or she was interested in, and receive a fax including the issue's Cusip number, dollar amount, rate, maturity, yield, and who is offering to sell the bonds."
The Blue List Fax Service is available through either a broadcast or fax-on-demand mode, or a combination of both.
According to a release from Kenny S&P, subscribers can get access to information about zero coupon bonds, new housing authority bonds, taxable municipals, industrial development and pollution control bonds, federally sponsored bonds, bank-qualified bonds, and alternative minimum tax bonds, among others.
Users of the 900-number will pay $10 for the first minute and $1 for each additional minute.
The broadcast or fax-on-demand modes are available for a minimum monthly fee of $50. For broadcast mode the charge is $1 per minute, and for fax-on-demand the charge is $1.50 per minute.
According to Ms. Rampino, the current daily readership of The Blue List is over 5,000. An additional 800 to 900 receive the weekly version on Monday mornings. A subscription costs $665 per year in New York City and $850 outside the city.
Kenny S&P's partner in the fax venture, Michigan-based World Data Delivery Systems, provides a variety of fax and telecommunications systems.
